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Little progress on bid to expand Lowell license board

By Lyle Moran, lmoran@lowellsun.com

Updated:
01/02/2013 06:38:07 AM EST

LOWELL -- The City Council's effort to expand the city's License Commission from three to five members has made little headway since the council first indicated it was supportive of the expansion in September.

But City Councilor Ed Kennedy, who proposed the change, said despite the slow start he remains hopeful the council will secure state approval for the board alteration sometime this year.

"It is a little frustrating that not much has happened yet, but I would like to keep upbeat about it and push for the change in 2013," he said.

Kennedy says expanding to five members would bring a greater diversity of opinions to the commission and make it less likely for a dissenting voice to be stifled.

The commission was on the hot seat last summer as it took up and dismissed a controversial plan to adopt new liquor-license regulations, and it will be the center of attention as it takes up the proposal again in the coming weeks.

Kennedy, City Manager Bernie Lynch and some members of the city's Statehouse delegation all say they bear no responsibility for the slow progress on the city's effort to change the makeup of the board overseeing Lowell's liquor licensees.

The council approved Kennedy's motion to examine increasing the size of the commission by two members on Sept. 11, but it was not presented with a vote on filing special legislation on the matter until its Nov. 8 meeting. The vote to do so was unanimously approved.

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The legislation was not transmitted to the city's Statehouse delegation by City Clerk Michael Geary's office until late December. By the time it arrived, it was too late for any legislation to be filed in 2012.

Members of the Statehouse delegation say they expect to file the bill in the next legislative session beginning this month, but they would like more information as to why the city wants to increase the size of the commission.

"I don't know what to make of it," State Rep. Kevin Murphy, a Lowell Democrat, said last Friday.

"I asked my colleagues from Lowell if any of them have been contacted by any member of the City Council or the city administration relative to this legislation and why it is good for the citizens of Lowell, and they all said no," he said.

Murphy said typically when the council approves a home-rule petition or special legislation, city councilors or the city administration reach out to the city's Beacon Hill delegation to inform legislators about the issue and to promote its passage.

"If a committee chairman asked me why I am bringing this forward, I wouldn't know because no one has reached out to me from the city about the pros and cons," Murphy said.

State Sen. Eileen Donoghue, a Lowell Democrat, confirmed as of last Friday no one from the city had contacted her about the issue. She said she would also like more information about the city's push for expanding the board.

"I'm not sure what the origin of this effort is," said Donoghue. "If someone asked me why five members is better than three, I wouldn't know."

Kennedy said he expected the city administration to have reached out to the state delegation by this point and he is disappointed it has not happened.

Lynch acknowledged that he had not called members of the state delegation about the council-approved effort. The manager said he had not done so, because while he fully supports expanding the board, it was a council initiative, not an administration proposal.

In response, Kennedy said Lynch works for the council, so he should push council initiatives with the delegation.

Beginning late last Friday, Kennedy said he was taking matters into his own hands and started reaching out to the state elected officials himself to explain why the board should be expanded.

Kennedy told The Sun a primary reason he supports increasing the board is because with only three members, it is easy for a lone dissenting voice to be stifled. One member could struggle to even get motions seconded for discussion, he said.

For example, the councilor pointed to his frustration with a meeting last year in which then-Commissioners Walter Bayliss and Raymond Weicker decided not to second Commissioner Brian Akashian's motion to adopt new regulations for liquor licensees.

A board with five members also dilutes the power of each member and allows for a board with greater diversity of opinions, said Kennedy.

"A five-member board is more democratic than having just three members," Kennedy said. "I can't think of any reasons not to expand the board."

The city's effort at the state level should be aided by the fact that other communities in the state already have five-member license commissions, said Kennedy.

State approval of the board change is unlikely to come before the commission, which presently only has two members, takes up amending the regulations governing liquor licensees early this year.

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